President Trump’s new $1.5M limo comes complete with blood, Bond-style features

WASHINGTON – President Trump is being driven around New York Tuesday in a brand-new presidential limo—one with what NBC News calls “an unprecedented level...

VIETNAM-US-DIPLOMACY

Author: Tribune Media Wire

Published: 11:32 AM EDT September 26, 2018

Updated: 11:32 AM EDT September 26, 2018

WASHINGTON – President Trump is being driven around New York Tuesday in a brand-new presidential limo—one with what NBC News calls “an unprecedented level of security.”

The Detroit Free Press, meanwhile, says it’s “one of the most exclusive, impenetrable and expensive cars in the world.”

The 20,000-pound, $1.5 million limo, built by General Motors to look like a stretched version of a Cadillac XT6 sedan, is believed to use a heavily modified platform from GM’s heavy-duty Chevrolet Kodiak truck and to have 8-inch thick walls and 5-inch, multilayer windows; a mix of steel, aluminum, and ceramic armors are meant to fend off different types of attacks. And in case of a biochemical attack, well, the car is sealed to protect against those, too.

Its doors weigh as much as those on a 757 jet, and its has run-flat tires inside its almost bus-sized wheel wells.

It also includes a night vision system, door handles that can be electrified to shock anyone trying to get inside, and the ability to fire tear gas, lay down an oil slick, or deploy a smokescreen.

Among its communications technologies? The ability to dispatch the nuclear codes. Oh, and in addition to the seven seats it has inside to make sure Secret Service members can surround the president, it also contains a bunch of medical supplies—including a refrigerator full of blood matching Trump’s blood type.

Commissioned by the Secret Service in 2014 and going by the same nickname as the last presidential limo, which debuted in 2009—”The Beast”—it’s one of a dozen making up what was initially estimated to be a $15.8 million contract.

Cadillac won’t comment on the car, but the Secret Service has confirmed the new limo, as well as a twin version traveling in Trump’s motorcade, posting a photo of the two together on Twitter.